The establishment of Highlands and Islands Development Board in 1965 was at the time a unique experiment to improve economic and social conditions for the people of the Highlands and Islands .How do the outcomes of that experiment and the work of its successor body, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, inform us in planning future economic and community development (including community land ownership) for Scotland ?
Lorne D. Crerar (born 1954) is a Scottish lawyer who is co-founder & chairman of Harper Macleod LLP and chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. He was Professor of Banking Law at the University of Glasgow’s School of Law 1997–2015. He was convener of the Standards Commission for Scotland 2003–2005 and chaired an independent review into the handling of complaints about public services.
Crerar joined the Ross Harper & Murphy law firm in 1986. In 1988, at the age of 35, he became a partner in Harpers, a newly created law firm which later became Harper Macleod LLP. In 1997 he was appointed Professor of Banking Law at the University of Glasgow’s School of Law. He wrote The Law of Banking in Scotland which was first published in 1997, with a second edition ten years later.
Crerar was the chairman of the Scottish Executive’s Housing Improvement Task Force 2001–2003. He became a member of the Standards Commission for Scotland when it was formed in January 2002 and then took up the post of convener in June 2003, an appointment that ran until January 2005. In June 2006, the Scottish Executive announced an independent review, chaired by Crerar, that was to look at the systems of external scrutiny for Scotland’s public services. A report was produced in 2007 that contained 42 recommendations that related to how improvements could be made to the regulation and inspection of the public sector and the complaints handling process.
He was a board member of Highlands and Islands Enterprise since 2008. In February 2012, he was appointed by Ministers as Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), and served two terms, stepping down early in 2020.